President Way Kuo of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) was awarded the Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia (the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy) by His Excellency Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, on 1 June to coincide with Italian National Day.

This highly prestigious honour was presented to President Kuo by Mr Clemente Contestabile, Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong, during a music celebration of Italy on the Italian National Day, titled “Concerto Italiano 2021” at City Hall. The award included a diploma signed by the President of the Italian Republic and a Knight pin.

The Ordine della Stella d’Italia recognises President Kuo’s efforts to develop cooperation between Italy and Hong Kong in the fields of science and culture.

The decoration is awarded to foreign citizens for their “extraordinary achievements in promoting friendly relations between Italy and other countries”.

“I am deeply honoured to receive this prestigious award,” said President Kuo. “It reflects CityU’s growing reputation for excellence in professional education and research as well as the international culture found on campus.”

Throughout the years, President Kuo has supported cultural exchanges strongly associated with Italy such as the Giuseppe Castiglione – Lang Shining New Media Art Exhibition in 2016, which was also held in Florence, Italy.

In 2019, the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery at CityU presented the “Leonardo da Vinci: Art & Science. Then & Now” exhibition in collaboration with the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan featuring for the first time in Hong Kong 12 original da Vinci drawings. This was a grand event to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci.

President Kuo spoke as the keynoter at the international webinar “Global Risks: how to address them to be resilient in a global world – Reflections in the time of coronavirus?” in June 2020 held under the auspices of the Consiglio Nazionale dell'Economia e del Lavoro or CNEL (The National Council for Economics and Labour), a body that advises Italy’s government.

In addition, he was invited to join the Honorary Academic Committee in a leading role and to deliver a talk for the 30th European Safety and Reliability Conference and the 15th Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management Conference in Venice, Italy in November 2020 in recognition of his active role in the last 30 years in the community and his contributions to the fields of reliability and safety.

This award represents another significant honour for President Kuo. Just two years ago, in 2019, he was bestowed the title and rank of Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Legion d’ Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour), a high French honour.

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